On the fact of the presence or absence of the subway, it is often customary to draw conclusions about the level of economic development of a city and its future prospects.
Metro in the provincial center
World practice indicates that the transport system of any modern large city is difficult to imagine without a well-planned and logistically calculated metro system. And despite the fact that there are reasonable doubts as to whether the Volgograd metro can be attributed to this particular type of urban transport, it successfully operates and transports many citizens and city guests on the Volga every day . And he has very good prospects for further development.
From the history of the issue
It all started back in 1971. The metro of Volgograd was formed and built not in the usual way. The fact is that the city was designed and built not so much a subway as a tram line. According to the developers, in the central part of the city she had to go underground, in a specially designed shallow tunnel. The technical idea was to set the tram line at different levels in height with the existing transport communications and ensure uninterrupted traffic. Such a scheme made it possible to solve a significant part of transport problems and optimally deliver passengers from the northern regions of the city to its center. The tram line was built for a rather long time, and the first passengers were able to drive through its underground section only in November 1984.
What is the Volgograd metro today
Currently, in the city on the Volga only one line of such an unusual transport communication is functioning successfully. Its length exceeds 17 kilometers; it has 22 stations. Often one has to hear questions about how to correctly classify an existing transport infrastructure object in a city . And in general - is there a metro in Volgograd ? But judge for yourselves - five stations located in the central part of the city correspond to the metro standards. These are Lenin Square, Komsomolskaya, Profsoyuznaya, Youth Theater and Yelshanka. The next - "Pioneer" - is already an elevated station. The length of the central section is just over seven kilometers. And the ground part of the route is not so different from the usual tram line. That is why the Volgograd metro is often designated by the name "Volgograd High Speed Tram". It has traits of similarity with that and with another type of urban rail transport, as well as traits of difference.
Technical features
But it should be noted that those who do not notice the difference between the usual tram line and the subway are very mistaken. Volgograd light rail is an off-street transportation system. That is, it never intersects with other transport communications on the same level. And this gives reason to believe that it is the metro that functions in the city. Volgograd, whose stations comply with generally accepted metro standards only in its central part, is the owner of an unmatched transport infrastructure. And it differs from the usual subway mainly in its rolling stock. Technical specialists had to work hard to adapt it to unusual operating conditions. And it was completely successful - ordinary city trams, consisting of one and several wagons, have been successfully transporting passengers for many years. The simple fact that the annual passenger turnover of the Volgograd light rail exceeds ten million people speaks for itself.
Further perspectives
The experience in the construction and operation of the Volgograd Metro was comprehensively analyzed by various specialists and recognized as effective. The positive aspects of this principle of transport infrastructure are reflected primarily in the economy. Such a metro of a combined type is less expensive. This applies equally to construction and operational costs. In addition, construction dates are also of importance, which are incomparably shorter than when laying tunnels even of shallow laying. That is why the Volgograd experience was adopted in other large cities of the Russian Federation, where the metro is designed and built. And the metro scheme of Volgograd will change significantly in the near future. Currently, a decision has been made and approved on the construction of the third stage of the existing transport system in the city. Its length will be seven kilometers. A new line will connect the southern part of the city with the center. Its construction is already underway at an intense pace. Commissioning is tentatively scheduled for the third quarter of 2018.